


Hers is the Fury

by itsreallyhardtopickthese



Series: Drabbles [3]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, F/M, Fem! Stannis Baratheon, Female stannis’ name is Ellyn, I think I might like Stannis, Sorry Not Sorry, Very little dialogue, What am I doing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-14
Updated: 2019-03-14
Packaged: 2019-11-17 20:54:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 997
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18106277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itsreallyhardtopickthese/pseuds/itsreallyhardtopickthese
Summary: Ellyn Baratheon was forever at a disadvantage for being born a woman. What everyone didn't know was that she was iron, she was steel and they would know her fury.





	Hers is the Fury

She sometimes blames herself for her parent’s death, that they had to travel so far away to find Rhaegar a bride was of no one’s fault but her own. She had not been charming enough nor beautiful when presented to King Aerys and he had not been very impressed upon her. Their deaths weigh heavily upon her breast, but she does not allow it to take flight. It is not surprising that upon their death Robert goes back to be with his Lord Arryn. Ellyn rises to the occasion, making Storm’s End hers. Renly often follows her about, watching as she deals with Robert’s bannermen. She thinks that Storm’s End will be wasted with Robert as its Lord, but she doesn’t share that with anyone.

  
When she hears the news, she is for a moment overcome with relief that she was not deemed worthy of marriage to Prince Rhaegar. Then Robert declares war and she is overtaken with a steel that sinks in, Storm’s End is her home and she must protect it. Renly is a babe yet and so all the Lords’ duties fall onto her shoulders.

  
They have always said she was a rather serious child, this combined with her rather homely appearance was one of the reasons she was yet unmarried (well, that and Robert’s negligence). And so, at eight and ten she was in command of one of the greatest holdings in the Seven Kingdoms.

 

The blockade happens like all things, she supposes. One day they have shipments coming from all over, ships filled with goods of all kinds make dock at their shores. Then one day they stop, the Lord Tyrell has stopped their shipments and sits not too far from Storm’s End. She has begun to ration, to try and figure out how long they will last on what they have, she doesn’t think very long if she is honest (she doesn’t tell anyone her thoughts). It is not until Renly, little Renly, who has taken up climbing into her bed at night, has become so small and has began to wail into the night about his aching stomach that she thinks she might understand how bad off they truly are. It is not that she was without worry before, she had been worried about their rations, she simply thought that the war would have ended before this (whatever that outcome may have been).

  
When they begin to mutiny against her rule, they tell her it is because she is a woman. They spit this word at her as if she could forget, as if she has suddenly after all this time became a woman and has not been one this whole time. She does not let them see her flinch, she is iron and Her’s is the Fury, they have no power over her. Those who have taken it upon themselves to comment on her ability to rule have found themselves in the cells. She tries to tell herself that this punishment is not about the way they have spoken about her, about her inabilities due to her being a woman. She tries to tell herself that this is simply the price of mutiny, if they whisper about how cold her heart is she chooses not to hear them.

  
When Davos Seaworth makes it through the fat Lord Tyrell’s blockade she feels like weeping with relief. She will not though, not when she can feel the bannermen’s eyes upon her, not when they have been privy to her actions up until this moment. They watch her with wary gazes, waiting for what the stone-wench will do. She takes the man’s fingers, it is the punishment for smuggling but as acting Lord she names him Ser Davos. The Lords may grumble that she has done this, and whisper other things about her but when the newly knighted Davos Seaworth smiles up at her, with nothing but good-will she can’t help the beating of her heart because for a singular moment she thinks she might deserve his smile.

  
When the siege is finally lifted, she meets Lord Stark in the yard. He is strong, stronger than when she last saw him. The war has taken the boy that was given and made him into a man.

 

She can’t help the errant thought at what she might look like to him. A thin girl that has only become thinner by starvation with a little boy clutching to her much too large gown. As she watches the men poor into her Keep she can’t help but notice Ser Davos’ eyes on her and Renly’s increasingly tightening grip, as if she shall go away or do something unbecoming of the Lady of Storm’s End. She makes sure to stand as straight as her aching body will allow and tries to forget what she looked like the last time she was able to see her reflection. The image of her sunken in face, dull eyes and thin, brittle hair is hard to rid herself of but she is nothing but determined. She will not however, show weakness to Lord Stark, and so she banishes the thoughts that plague her mind of vanity. She tucks Renly closer to her and she does the best curtsy she can manage, though her knees protest. She wills her thin, dry lips to move up in what other’s might call a smile.

  
“Lord Stark, welcome to Storm’s End” her voice is infinitely stronger than she feels as she stands in front of the dour Northern Lord. Her voice sounds like iron, like steel, if the Tyrell forces and her own bannermen could not break her she does not think that the man in front of her can either. So, she will welcome the Lord that Robert has decided is his brother and she will take whatever news he brings with as much grace as she has ever had because she is iron, she is steel and they will know her fury.


End file.
